It’s worth noting that in Taylor Swift’s first hit — 2006’s “Tim McGraw” — she hoped her former high-school boyfriend would remember her whenever he heard one of McGraw’s songs. Seven years on, Swift has built her immensely successful career largely on songs about broken relationships. The difference is, her boyfriends now are just as famous as McGraw.

That’s just one of the remarkable things about Swift, now 23, who returned to St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center on Saturday for the first of a two-night stand in front of more than 14,000 mostly young, mostly female fans. (The shows mark her fourth and fifth times headlining the place, something she noted from the stage.) Swift stands as one of the most successful artists to emerge from any genre in recent years, with more than two dozen platinum (or better) singles under her belt and some 20 million albums sold, in an era when no one buys albums anymore. She also sings live, plays several instruments and is brimming with positive energy.

Swift’s current tour, which kicked off nearly six months ago, is meant to show that she’s growing up, and not in the Miley Cyrus sense. Last time around, she took the stage to Tom Petty’s “American Girl,” now it’s to Lenny Kravitz’s cover of “American Woman.” And while her new album “Red” is notable for its excursions into full-blown pop music — and “I Knew You Were Trouble” and “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” stand among her finest moments — Swift also filled the disc with far more mature, sedate work, songs that populated much of Saturday’s set.

As such, Swift did not dish about her numerous Famous Ex-Boyfriends, Taylor Lautner, John Mayer, Joe Jonas and Harry Styles among them. Instead, she spoke at length about her songwriting process, her emotions and the color red. And she did it on a stage big enough for a stadium. It helped some that she spent a few songs out on a second stage at the back of the arena, but Swift never before has felt this distant, this untouchable, in concert. That said, Swift has vastly upped her game in the vocals department and no longer looks awkward playing an acoustic guitar.

What the show could have used was more fun. Swift turned one of her giddiest moments, the terrific “You Belong with Me,” into a slowed-down, ill-advised girl group number, robbing it of all its thrills. At times, the proceedings got so overly choreographed, like the Old Hollywood-styled “The Lucky One,” the show felt more like a jukebox musical than a pop concert.

It’s still easy to admire Swift, who pulled out “Treacherous,” a song she co-wrote with Minnesota’s own Dan Wilson, near the end of the show. She has maintained an enviable relationship with her audience for seven years now, without resorting to the cheap tricks it often takes to hold the attention of the pop-music crowd. She just needs to remember growing older doesn’t have to mean getting boring.

A Minnesota native, Ross Raihala joined the Pioneer Press as pop music critic in 2004, after stints at The Forum in Fargo, N.D., and The Olympian in Olympia, Wash. He covers local and national music as well as some theater and other arts and entertainment topics. His favorite part of his job is reviewing, and live tweeting, Twin Cities arena concerts. And, yes, he saw the same show you did.

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